What does it mean to be born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5)?

from the old testament

• The phrase, “born of water and the Spirit” is not in the Old Testament. However, some believe when Jesus referred to being “born of water and the Spirit,” He was referencing a passage from Ezekiel. . In Ezekiel, God is talking about His immense judgment against Israel, which will result in her people being spread throughout the earth (Ezekiel 36:16-19), continuing to profane God’s name (Ezekiel 36:20), and being regathered by God into a nation (Ezekiel 36:22-24).
• In this context, God says that, to purify Israel, “I will sprinkle clean water on you” (Ezekiel 36:25). He then continues by describing salvation, saying that “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” and “I will put My Spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Given that Jesus expected Nicodemus—a teacher of the Old Testament—to understand the phrase “born of water and the Spirit,” the Ezekiel passage could very well be the background context of Jesus’ statement.

from the new testament

• In John 3:3, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God,” to which Nicodemus answers, “How can a man be born when he is old?” (John 3:4). Jesus’ explanation is simply, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). The phrase ”born again” comes from this verse.
• The apostle Paul wrote that believers are “new creation[s]” in Christ, which ties into being born again.
• Peter spoke of being “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). Through Christ, we have the promise of eternal life.

implications for today

In John 3:5, Jesus may have been alluding to a key text in Ezekiel that describes the salvation of Israel. If this view is correct, then Jesus is figuratively talking about a spiritual cleansing (c.f., Ezekiel 36:25).

However, not everyone is convinced about this. Another view is that Jesus was talking about water baptism and Spirit baptism. Support for this is that all earlier uses of water in John refer to water baptism (John 1:26, 31, and 33). However, this goes against the teaching that we’re saved by faith alone (Romans 3:22; c.f., Ephesians 2:1-–10, Galatians 2:16, and Titus 3:4-–7). Also, the reference Jesus uses to Moses lifting the serpent in the wilderness focuses on belief, not water baptism (John 3:14-16).

A third understanding is that “born of water” is a metaphor for physical birth. Support for that is the immediate context where Nicodemus is asking how a man can be physically born again. This view finds support in the fact that unborn babies live in a sac of amniotic fluid. We even use the expression “her water broke” when it’s time for birth. If this view is correct, then Jesus meant that everyone must be born twice to be saved: once from his mother (what everyone experiences) and once spiritually (what only believers experience).

A fourth interpretation is that “water and the Spirit” is a “double-metaphor” where both words mean the same thing, namely spiritual regeneration. Support for this is that the word “the” is not in Greek, with a literal translation being “water and Spirit.” This means it’s possible there is less of a separation between the two words than English translations generally imply. Also, it is noted that water is used as a metaphor for the Spirit later in John (John 4:10, 13-15; 7:38). Finally, “Spirit” and “water and Spirit” appear to be parallel ideas. In John 3:5, Jesus says, “born of water and Spirit” but in John 3:8 he just says, “born of the Spirit.” By not repeating “water,” this view argues that “born of water and Spirit” is the same as “born of the Spirit.”

We can be so concerned with dissecting the meaning of a phrase that we can miss the main point! Whatever Jesus meant by “water and the Spirit,” it is clear that each possible view is at least partially on the right track. Each understands that a second birth is the cleansing and transformation by the Spirit and is needed before someone can enter the kingdom of God.

In John 3:1-21, Jesus was teaching Nicodemus that one must be “born again” to be saved. To be born again means that we must be internally transformed. That comes by our belief (John 3:15) that Jesus was sent to bring salvation (John 3:16).

What are we to believe about Jesus? We must confess that He is fully God (Colossians 1:19), and that He added on humanity to be like us (Philippians 2:6-8). We must also believe that, unlike us, He never sinned (1 Peter 2:22). Since death is only required for sinners (Romans 6:23), He did not have to die. However, God sent Him to save sinners by crushing Him for our sin (Isaiah 53:5). That is, Jesus died in the place of sinners and paid the penalty of death that they owed (1 John 4:10).

That is what we must believe about Jesus. When we do, we are born again and made a new creature by the Spirit. As believers, we are “born of water and the Spirit” and will enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5).